CALGARY – Alberta’s former deputy minister of energy and environment has been named CEO of the province’s new oil and gas regulator.

Jim Ellis will handle the day-to-day operations of the revamped energy watchdog, which has a $200-million budget and will employ nearly 1,000 people.

Ellis says a big part of his job will be ensuring Alberta has good environmental oversight for Canadian oil and gas sold to international customers.

The inability to access the best paying markets – in part a result of environmental opposition to new pipeline infrastructure – has been a drag on industry profits and government revenues in recent months.

Energy industry veteran Gerry Protti has been named chair of the regulator and he’ll handle more of the big-picture aspects.